Although it was pretty much expected to be the case, we now have confirmation that Joan Burton has been elected as leader of the Labour Party. Burton is now the 11th leader of the party.
Burton was elected in a landslide victory over her fellow Labour party member, Alex White.
According to the Irish Times, Burton won the leadership with 2,094 votes out of the 2,720 cast. Mr. White took a total of 607.
The result for the deputy leadership is still to be announced this afternoon. There are reports that Mr. Alan Kelly, Tipperary North TD will be the runaway leader out of the four contestants.
Joan Burton was appointed Minister for Social Protection in March 2011. She was the first TD to be re-elected in the general election after topping the poll in Dublin West. She was first elected to the Dáil in 1992.
Earlier this week, Minister for Education Ruairi Quinn signalling change within the party. It was expected that Mr. Quinn would be dropped by Burton when she took over as leader.
